How often do you find yourself writing an endless to-do list? How often do you feel overwhelmed by it? In today’s post, I’m sharing habits that will make your life easier.
You’ll learn how to decrease decision fatigue, eliminate distractions, and simplify your life with the 80/20 principle.
Habit #1 follow the 80/20 rule to make your life easier
“My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do.”
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This one is probably my favorite. I implement it in every aspect of my life.
Richard Koch, the writer of The 80/20 Principle, suggests identifying the 20 percent of your tasks that produce 80 percent of the achievement and only focusing on them.
For example, if I know that I get thousands of blog views per day from Pinterest, why would I waste my time on Twitter? Instead, every week I create new pins to increase my traffic from Pinterest even more.
You can even apply this principle to your clothes. I remember before I was a minimalist, I was wearing only a small amount of clothes I had. I could have easily got rid of 80 percent of my wardrobe and use only what I loved wearing.
In the book I mentioned, he also talks about realizing what 20 percent of activities in your life produce 80 percent of your happiness. And, finding ways to spend more time engaged in them.
Therefore, identify your non-negotiables and focus on them.
Habit #2 plan tasks only a month ahead instead of years in advance
“Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”
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This will save you from stressing about your future too much. People change. Your situation will change. Your thoughts and goals will change.
When we plan our whole life, it’s easy to get impatient because we’re not there yet. It’s easy to start worrying about how things will work out. Worrying about the future is the easiest way to ruin what you have now.
I consider myself lucky enough to have the opportunity to live and work wherever I want. That’s the kind of lifestyle I created for myself. And, just yesterday I was looking for Airbnb in Poland, Italy, and France. Partially because I was indecisive, and partially because I was focused on where I wanted to be for the rest of the year.
But what about today? What about the time I spend at home? Should I take the present moment for granted because I am focused on the end goal?
I literally wasted all my afternoon yesterday planning and overthinking about the future, when I could’ve spent that time focused on the to-do list that I had in front of me. Which I’m finishing right now…
Try slowing down a bit.
I think having a bigger picture in mind is important. That way you’re aware of what you want to achieve in life. But, when it comes to SCHEDULING your life, as I’ve said, try to make your life easier by planning tasks for a shorter period of time.
By doing that, you have a ”tunnel vision” to keep you focused instead of blurring the picture with the additional goals you want to achieve in 5-years time.
Habits to reduce decision fatigue
“You are not the victim of the world, but rather the master of your own destiny. It is your choices and decisions that determine your destiny.”
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Habit #1 decluttering
One of the ways I eliminate decision fatigue DAILY is by decluttering. I’ve decluttered stuff I own multiple times. Since we never stop buying, decluttering can become something we do at least once a year. By reducing the amount of stuff we own, we reduce the amount of time spent thinking about what to use, what to wear, etc.
Habit #2 reducing distractions
Another thing that wastes our time, distractions. Oftentimes, we choose distractions. There are a few things you can do to eliminate them. Put your phone in another room, if the job allows you. Set exact times for dealing with your inbox.
Ask yourself how you can make your life easier when it comes to dealing with distractions. Personally, I turned off all notification sounds and unfollowed a bunch of people on social media so that even when I check my phone, there’s nothing much to see.
Habit #3 setting specific goals and deadlines
Make your life easier by setting SPECIFIC goals and setting DEADLINES for yourself. This is also a big one when you’re trying to reduce decision fatigue.
When I was writing my eBook, I set deadlines for each task and I strictly followed them. It’s an eBook about 100 steps to get closer to your dream life. 100 steps!
I had a firm schedule that saved me from overwhelm.
Habit #4 2-minute rule
A great piece of advice I got from David Allen’s book Getting Things Done is if the action takes less than two minutes to complete, do it immediately. I follow that one on Sundays the most. When you’re organizing and cleaning, there are a lot of minuscule tasks you can easily get done, but those somehow become the ones we procrastinate with the most. That’s when establishing this habit will make your life easier.
If you’d like to learn more about the 100 Steps Closer eBook I mentioned, feel free to check it out here.
It covers 100 different areas of your life and gives you ideas and action steps on how to improve each of them. It’s jam-packed with journal prompts, encouraging affirmations, quotes, and things you can do start living your version of a dream life.
Share this post with your friends who feel overwhelmed to give them some ideas on how to make their life easier a bit.
Until the next time,
I.
Love the 2 minute rule and even though I am retired and at home I prefer to do stuff immediately when I think of it and get it done and off my to do list. To my mind it’s the best way to do and keep myself sane and on course. The fact that I have time does not mean I have to postpone anything until later. I am very much a get it done person. Always been even during my entire work life I tackled a job immediately and made sure I completed it well ahead of schedule and not in the nick of time.
Yes, yes, yes. All such great tips! I’ve shared the 2-minute rule with people in my life because it really is a game changer.
Love these simple habits. We’ve been focusing on the 2 minute tasks, which helps so much. But the decluttering seems to be where we need to focus more. With kids and business, there is just so much!
very helpful especially no. 2, I need to work on that
I recently heard about the 2-mjnute rule. I have to say I get so much more done and out of the way.